Good, tough plastic "space" bags (the ones you vacuum)?

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Kirk_Ferentz

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Feb 16, 2010
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I bought some of these "space" bags that you pack your clothes into and hook up to the vacuum to remove all the air on two occasions, but both sets leak and are paper thin, so you can barely even close them with out slicing through the plastic and ruining them. Anyone know of a more heavy duty version that actually works? It would be great if they came in various sizes.

I use them to throw into my pack on hiking/camping trips, as well as just general packing for trips in my luggage.

Gracias!
 
The ones marketed by Eagle Creek are heavier weight plastic and do seem to work. They're the ones you squeeze, so they always end up with a weird, lumpy curve to them, but the compression does seem to hold up for more than a few days. The largest size is pretty big, but much smaller than the largest Space Bags designed to hold comforters and things like that. I've seen them sold in a pack of three sizes for like $20 at Eastern Mountain Sports.

I haven't had much luck with Space Bags or the Samsonite branded bags, or any of the Brand X types that require a vacuum cleaner. I did have a lot of luck with the actual vacuum sealers, but the bags are not wide enough to be really useful, even the ones you can cut to size. I sealed some stuff for work as a test and just found them a week or so ago and the seal was perfect well over a year later. But it's a one use kind of thing, unless you carry the sealer around with you.

A while back I recall reading about a Japanese version of Space Bags(probably on an organizer blog) that are thicker and hold their seal well, but I've never seen them...
 
I'll check out the ECs and the japanese versions JohnG. I also saw that REI might sell some. I need to stop by there and pick up a few things. At least I know that if they are crap I can return them no questions asked.
 
Kirk--I am pretty sure REI carries the Eagle Creek Compressor bags, which work by squeezing the air out manually. I travel a fair amount for work and have been using this brand for years--within certain limits you won't be disappointed by them. They're best in class and for like $20 you could be set for quite a while.

Just as an aside, a while back I lost the little slider plastic bit that is used to seal the open end of a Compressor bag. The bag was still fine but would not close correctly after losing it. No vendor seemed to have just the slider, but a call to Eagle Creek netted me two replacements sent out at no charge. Gotta feel good about a company that does something like that!
 
As an update, I got one of the 2-pack Eagle Creek Compression Sac bags. They work very well. They are much more heavy duty than the other plastic suction bags that I have used and the closure part of it is designed not to rip. I have tested them out a few times and used them during my holiday travels. They were in the same shape several days later as when I closed them and rolled them up -- no air let in. I'm going to buy some more.

I kind of wish they had a valve where you could suck out air with a vacuum, as I find that that always removes some air that you didn't get out by rolling the bag. But I say this only if it means that it would not let any air in with time, as I want them to stay compressed permanently.

I find that you are able to remove a lot more air through rolling them if you do not fill them all the way up. Easier to roll and harder for pockets of air to form in the clothes.

I know that the compression bags with the straps are all of the rage these days, but I think for clothes and similar items, these types of bags do a much better job of compressing the stuff and making it easy to pack (whether you are talking about packing a ruck sack for a long backpacking trip or just a suitcase for a vacation). Also very impervious to the elements.
 
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